Parentship
by AnotherSideTheOtherStory
Summary: Benny, in an attempt to both impress Ethan and ace a biology project, accidentally takes things to far when he combines genetics and magic. Now together the two of them will learn there's a fine line between parenthood, friendship and even a potential relationship they never thought possible. Benny/Ethan Slash
1. Taking the Assignment to the Next Step

A/N: I promise I'll update Feeling Something New soon, but I felt like getting this out of the way. Tell me what you think.

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Parentship

By AnotherSideTheOtherStory

Chapter 1: Taking the Assignment to the Next Step

Ethan yawned as the days events finally themselves apparent through the dull ache in his muscles. He took a seat in the car next to Jane and gave her a sympathetic smile, which she returned with one of her own. He couldn't remember having a worse day in his life, and certainly had no recollection of ever having one so boring. Not only was the Morgan family reunion dull and uneventful but the fact that his mom had confiscated his cellphone and Benny had been banned after the 'incident' last year made it all the worse.

"Wasn't it great to see everyone?" asked Ross as he started the engine. Both his children and wife groaned in response. "Ok, it was bad, but did you at least try to have fun?"

"What is it with older people and pinching?" asked Ethan as he rubbed his cheek. "Especially Great Grandma Morgan, she's like a lobster."

"I know," said Jane with a frown. "I thought because she was old it wouldn't be that bad but her fingers are like steel."

"You should've seen her when she was younger," responded Ross with a small smile. "She was so much more worse, she could crack a nut between her thumb and pointer finger."

"Can I get my cellphones back now?"

"Of course," said Samantha as she rustled through her purse. "Thank you for at least trying to enjoy the day."

"Anytime mom," said Ethan happy to have his phone back. He felt his heart skip when he noticed several text messages and voicemails, all of them from Benny. Something must've happened while he was away; he clicked the texts message first and thought about everything that could have gone wrong. Sarah might've been staked, Benny could have been injured, Jessie could've returned, Benny might've been hurt, Rory could've gone to the dark side or Benny could be in the hospital to name a few of his worries and concerns.

_**Hey E, question about the assignment- what are your parents eyes color? –B (Friday 6:30PM)**_

_**Is hair color considered recessive or not? Still waiting to hear about the eye thing! – B (Friday 7:01PM)**_

_**E, I need to talk to you right away! It's not an emergency, but you need to see this!(it has to do with our project !) And don't worry about the questions I had earlier! I figured them out! –B (Friday 11:45 PM)**_

Ethan sighed in relief; no one was hurt. He re-read the texts and did a double take. How had Benny figured out the eye color and hair question? He thought about it for a moment before deciding he didn't want to know the answer. He clicked the voicemail, closed his eyes and listened to the sound of his best friend's voice.

"_**Hey E it's Benny, I hope your having fun at your family reunion, tell your grandma I say hi and that I'm sorry about the cake last year. Umm… if you could call me as soon you get this message that would be great. K, bye." (Saturday 7:10 AM)**_

He sighed and did his best to fight off the exhaustion that slowly began to overtake him. When he realized he was fighting a losing battle, he closed his eyes and thought about his best friend waiting for him back at home. Benny…. He smiled as he dreamed about the assignment the two of them had partnered up for.

* * *

"_The average human body contains tens of thousands of genes," said Mr. G as he paced along the classroom. "These genes are segments of DNA, and contain several basic traits such as hair color, skin color, and more. You may be wondering why I brought this up, and it's really exciting because it has to do with your next project! Now get into groups of two and I'll hand out these packets that explain more."_

_Ethan watched as all around them students let out groans, sighs, and moans of disapproval before getting up and finding someone to work with. Benny leaned forward on their desk, stuck out his lip in an overdramatic pout and said: _

"_I hate projects. They're difficult, take forever, and are worth way more points than they should be. I mean seriously who cares how long it takes to boil a chemical that we'll never see in our lives again."_

"_What are you talking about?" asked Ethan as he was handed a packet. "I'm the one who ends up doing all the work while you sit around eating marshmallows and playing videogames." _

"_That's because you never actually let me anything, and if you did I'm pretty sure we'd both end up failing."_

"_Lucky," whispered Rory from behind them. "I want to sit around eating marshmallows and playing videogames, Ethan be my partner."_

"_I'm good," said Ethan with a smirk. He turned to Benny. "Promise you'll at least attempt to help with some of the work?"_

"_Promise."_

"_**So yeah, call me when you get this message. Or when you get back home because I seriously need to talk to you about the assignment and I might have uh… you'll see when you get here. You said you'd get back tonight right?" (Saturday 3:05 PM)**_

"_Now I know the last thing you all want to do is work on a project, especially when it's a three day weekend," said Mr. G sympathetically as he leaned against his desk. The class nodded in agreement. "But this assignment is easy, think of it more as a chance to explore who you are than an actual project. We're going to be studying recessive and dominant traits such as hitchhikers thumbs, dimples, freckles, and more." _

_"So why are there pictures of plants in here?" asked Benny as he flipped through the packet. "And these strange boxes?"_

_"Are we plant people?" blurted out Rory. "Because I could totally rock the whole human plant thing."_

_"No we're not plant people, what your looking at is Mendel's experiment with plants and hereditary traits. It's a introduction to the idea of what traits might get passed on and which one's wouldn't. For your project you're going to be reviewing various traits you have, figuring out if they're recessive or dominant, and then working with your partner trying to figure out what a child between the two of you would look like."_

_"That's not going to help with the rumors about us dating," said Ethan as he turned to face Benny, who for some reason or another had a stupid grin across his face. "W-What?"_

_"We're going to be parents E!" said Benny as he attempted to try and hug him. "I'm so proud!"_

"_Congratulations!" said Rory with the same stupid smile. "Can I be the god-father?"_

"_No we're not, it's just an assignment," said Ethan with a laugh as he attempted to keep his friend at arm's length. "Knock it off you two."_

_"But any child we had would be the ultimate combination of nerd and geek, not to mention ridiculously good looking," said Benny modestly as he placed his elbows on the table. "Though Erica and I could probably make some pretty hot kids."_

_Ethan rolled his eyes and went back to work, someone needed to pay attention for the sake of their assignment._

* * *

"Wake up," mumbled Jane as she poked him. "We're home."

"When did I fall asleep?" asked Ethan as he sat up and stretched. He noticed Jane was playing an app on his phone, and extended his hand. She gave it to him with a smile.

"You fell asleep listening to your messages, oh and Benny called while you were out."

"What did he want?"

"No idea, I let it go to voicemail."

"Thanks," said Ethan sarcastically as he got out of the car. He placed the phone against his ear and smiled when he heard the familiar voice of his friend.

"_**So Ethan, yeah please call me when you get back, it's kind of important and has to do with the assignment. Don't worry about waking me or my Grandma up, just stop by when you get a chance." (Saturday 7:09 PM)**_

That caught his attention. Benny never used his full name, which could only mean he had either messed up on the assignment or done something equally insane. The possibilities when Ethan actually stopped to considered it, were endless. With a sigh of both annoyance and excitement he headed next door towards the Weir residence.

"Where are you going honey?" asked Samantha as she stopped in the doorway. "Aren't you tired?"

"I just need to head over to Benny's and make sure he started our biology project. I'll be back in a few minutes, promise!"

"Tell Evelyn I say hi."

"Yes mom," said Ethan without looking back over his shoulder. He knocked on the door and was greeted by a rather exhausted looking Benny. The older boy gave him a smile and quickly pulled him in.

"Oh good you got my messages," said Benny as he ushered him towards the living room. "Yeah so about our project I might have messed up a little tiny teensy bit."

"What do you mean messed up?"

"I may have tried to use magic as a shortcut to finding out what part of our genetics were recessive and dominant and it didn't quite work out the way I thought it would."

"So what did you do?" Asked Ethan confused when Benny suddenly motioned for him to sit on the sofa. "Did you burn the packet, accidently rip it, or did you lose it?"

"Nothing like that. It's just well…."

Before Ethan could ask what was wrong he heard the sound of crying from the other side of the house. A moment later a small child ran into the room and straight into Benny's arms.

"What's the mater buddy?" asked Benny as he picked him up and held him close. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"I did…," whispered the child as he buried his face into Benny's shoulder. "You lef me."

"Benny who is that?" asked Ethan as he took in the child's curly brown hair and bright green eyes.

"Ethan, this is Matthew...," said Benny with a huge smile. "He's our son."

"Our WHAT!"


	2. The Obvious Aside

A/N: Wow I'm kind of shocked this picked up as fast as it could. I'm glad you like it, thanks for the reviews, and don't forget to check out my other story 'Feeling Something New'.

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Parentship

By AnotherSideTheOtherStory

Chapter 2: The Obvious Aside

Following Ethan's outburst Matthew began to cry. Benny rubbed the young child's back while gently rocked him to and and fro.

"It's ok buddy," whispered Benny trying to calm his son down. "Daddy's here, and he's not going to leave you alone again."

"Pwomise?"

"Promise. Do you want me to go get Bacon for you?" The boy nodded. "Ok, but I'm going to leave you here with Papa is that ok?"

Matt looked over at Ethan uncertainly and then back at Benny before nodding. The Spellmaster set him on the sofa next to Ethan and disappeared around the corner with a small smile on his face.

"H-hi," said Ethan unsure of how to act or treat kids. "I'm Ethan."

"No, you Papa," mumbled Matt before scooting closer to him. "I Matt."

Benny returned a few moments later with a small stuffed pig in his hands, he handed it Matt before taking a seat next to him.

"This Bacon," said the young boy as he held up his pig for Ethan to see. "But no eat."

"Oh ok." He watched the boy scoot back over to Benny and lay in his lap. After a few minutes of awkward silence he was sound asleep his arms fastened tightly around Bacon.

"You have one minute to explain why we're suddenly parents," whispered Ethan afraid he might wake up the sleeping child.

"Ok, so I was trying to figure out what kind of genes you had and you weren't answering your phone, so I figured the only way to get answers was to clone you."

Ethan said nothing and rubbed his face; there were so many things wrong with Benny's line of thinking.

"While mixing the potion I thought to myself even if I cloned you Clone Ethan might not have all the information that I needed, after all clones are never exact replicas and don't get me started on the memory thing. Anyway I may have dropped some on my own hair in the potion and created Matthew as a short cut to see which of our DNA was recessive and dominant."

"Let me get this straight," said Ethan doing everything in his power to keep his voice calm and collected. "You created a son so you could cheat on our project?"

"Kinda."

"You have no idea how much I hate you right now."

"Come on E," said Benny as he rubbed Matthew's head. "Don't be like that, just look at him."

"How long is this supposed to last?"

"What do you mean? How long does what last?"

"How long does the modified cloning spell last? How long is Matthew going to be around for?"

"As long as the average human," whispered Benny giving Ethan a strange look. "He's going to grow up like a normal kid… why?"

"Why?" Asked Ethan in disbelief as his voice began to rise. "Why? What part of you thinks making a four-year-old kid is ok? Especially without asking me if you could even use my DNA? Not only that but I'm dating Sarah right now!"

"First of all he's two and a half-ish… I think… I'm not sure being magically created it's really hard to place his age. And second I didn't know the spell was going to make him like an actual human ok? I thought it was going to be like an hour long or something. You should've seen my Grandma when she saw him, you would've gotten a kick out of that. Besides look at how adorable he is, how can you not love him?"

"Benny I don't want to be a dad, especially at the age of sixteen," mumbled Ethan as he stood up and headed for the door. "I-I'm sorry…. I-I can't do this right now."

"Ethan wait," said Benny as he tried to get up. Matthew let out a whimper and Benny scooped him into his arms before chasing after his friend. "Please, just give it a chance ok? You haven't even really met him yet, he's smart, and he loves it when I read to-"

"Do you realize how crazy you sound right now? We're going to have to explain to my parents, who still hire a babysitter to watch after Jane, how I have a son that I wasn't even responsible for creating! They don't even know about me being a Seer or you being a Spellmaster! Not only that but Benny we're going to have to raise it and feed it and parent it!"

"Matt is not an 'it'!" yelled Benny getting frustrated with his friend's lack of understanding. Matt let out a whimper and he lowered his voice. "He's our son. I thought you'd be cool with this, I mean we always talked about how awesome we'd be if we ever had a kid together… and you know being friends…. I…. Wow I sound like an idiot…. I'm sorry E I should've thought about it more. I guess it really didn't hit me until just now and with you and Sarah getting so close…. I… just…. I don't know." He was a bright red now.

Ethan suddenly felt ashamed as he watched Benny bounce Matthew in his arms. "I'm sorry."

The two of them stood awkwardly in the doorway unsure of what to say or do, a first for the two life long friends. It was eventually Evelyn that broke the unnatural silence between them.

"Benny I believe it's past Matthew's bedtime," whispered Evelyn as she crossed her arms with a strange knowing smile. "Go lay him down in your bed and Ethan I think it would be a good idea if you stayed over for the night. Why don't you go get a change of clothes while we put Matt down, and once you get back I'll explain everything."

Ethan nodded and acting on impulse placed a quick kiss on the Matt's forehead before heading home. Benny despite himself smiled as he watched the brunette dart across the yard.

* * *

Ten minutes later Ethan found himself sitting at the Weir kitchen table and next to his best friend, who for one reason or another looked rather uncomfortable. Across from them both Evelyn took a sip from her teacup.

"I know this much be hard for you," said Evelyn as she gave Ethan a smile. "Especially considering this is the last thing any teenage boy expects."

"Yeah," said Ethan as he crossed his arms. "Especially a virgin."

"And I admit it's still unsettles me how my Grandson can be so careless with his magic. But we have to face the facts before us. Benny made a mistake-"

"Matt is no a mistake," interjected Benny suddenly. When they both gave him strange looks he picked up his cup and took a sip. "He's not."

"I'm not calling Matthew a mistake, I'm saying the events leading to his creation were. Now as I was saying before I was interrupted, you both have a bunch of responsibilities-"

"No one has even asked me if I want to be a part of this," said Ethan suddenly. "Has anyone even thought that maybe I don't want to be a parent?"

"The next one to interrupt me is going to lose their mouth," said Evelyn as she looked at both of them. "Understood?"

They nodded silently.

"Now as I was saying you both are going to have a bunch of responsibilities if you choose to be a part of Matthews life. Ethan I'm talking directly to you, I'm not asking to make up your mind now, but I would prefer to have both you raising him instead of just my Grandson. I know it's a lot to think of, and I'm sure you feel as though I'm putting all this pressure onto and I am. But you need to hear this- Matthew isn't going to be just another child, he's going to have powers, and there's a good chance they might manifest early. Not only that there will be others who want him because of that. Adoption isn't an option, I'm really sorry but it has to be like this."

"What about our school? Or my parents?" asked Ethan as the reality of situation set in. "They don't know anything about this part of my life, and to suddenly show up with a kid?"

"When your ready to talk to your parents I'll go with you," said Evelyn. "And my Grandson will most certainly be there to explain everything as well. As for now I suggest you both head to bed, and think about everything I told you."

Ethan nodded and followed Benny as he headed up the stairs to his room. He noticed Matt snuggled away in the bed and motioned for Benny to meet him in the hallway. Once the door was closed he asked:

"Did you know about any of that? About Matt having powers?"

"That's the first time Grandma said anything," answered Benny. "I figured he might because we have powers but I didn't know they'd appear when he was so young."

"I don't know if I can be a parent," said Ethan honestly. "I can't even take care of Jane, and-"

"It's ok E, I'd understand if you say no. I should've talked to you before doing something like this. As long as your not mad at me, your not right?"

"N-no. You were only trying to do our project and Matt is pretty cute, though he looks more like you then me."

"He has my eyes and curly hair, but your hair color, and brains."

"What has been eating? When's his bedtime? Does he-" Benny smirked. "What?"

"Nothing you just sound like a parent."

"Wow," said Ethan as it suddenly dawned on him. "I guess this makes me a dad now."

"Really?" asked Benny as he pulled him into a tight hug. "You have no idea how worried I was you would say no or something."

Ethan felt his cheeks flush. "Wasn't Bacon the pig we won at the fair when we were six? The one you let me keep because I kept having nightmares?"

"He's a lot like you," said Benny as he finally let go. Ethan smiled sheepishly unsure of the strange warmth in the pit of his stomach. He'd never felt this way before at least not in the presence of Benny. "Ethan?"

"H-huh?"

"You zoned out there for a moment. I was saying that you'd have a chance to see how much Matthew is like you tomorrow. He's more like me when he's fussy."

Ethan laughed and opened his sleeping bag on the floor; Benny lay on the bed next to their son. Together they spent the rest of the night whispering about videogames, the mysterious string of dog kidnappings, and what the future would hold for them, especially now that they had a son.

"Hey E," whispered Benny summoning the entirety of his courage.

"Yeah?"

"When I told you about Matt, you said you couldn't be a parent because you were dating Sarah," Benny looked over the bed at down at him. "Why did you say that?"

Ethan turned bright red. "I-uh I always figured if I had a kid I'd um... date or... marry the... uh girl I had it with."

"Makes sense," said Benny. "We're not dating... right?"

"N-no!" said Ethan as his voice cracked. "W-why would you even ask that?"

"I wasn't asking! I just wanted to make sure!"

"T-Think of this as a parent friendship thing, or a parentship!"

Both boys turned away with a red flush across their cheeks. To Ethan the knot in his stomach he now associated with Benny, was way stranger than the fact he was a dad.


End file.
